McGuckian, Medbh

(1950- )

   Medbh (pronounced "Maeve") is an Irish-born poet who still lives in Ireland. After graduating in English B.A. (1972) and M.A. (1974) from Queen's University, Belfast, she returned to teaching English at secondary school. She was the first woman writer in residence at Queen's University from 1985 to 1988. Her awards: National Poetry Competition, 1979; Eric Gregory Award, 1980; Ireland Arts Council Award, 1982; Rooney Prize for Irish Literature, 1982; Alice Hunt Bartlett Award, 1983; The Cheltenham Prize, 1989; Forward Poetry Prize, 2002.

   Some of her publications: The Flower Master, 1982. Venus and the Rain, 1984. On Ballycastle Beach, 1988. Selected Poems: 1978-1994, 1997. Drawing Ballerinas, 2001. The Face of the Earth, 2002. The Book of the Angel, 2004. Some of her poems: "Coleridge," "Marconi's Castle," "Mr. McGregor's Garden," "The Albert Chain," "The Aphrodisiac," "The Flitting," "Waterford."

   Sources: Antholog y of Twentieth-Century British and Irish Poetry. Keith Tuma, ed. Oxford University Press, 2001. Biography of Medbh Mcguckian (http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/McGuckian.html). British Council Arts (http://www.contemporarywriters.com). Contemporary Irish Poetry: An Antholog y. Anthony Bradley, ed. University of California Press. New and rev. ed., 1988. Irish Poetry: An Interpretive Antholog y from Before Swift to Yeats and After. W.J. McCormack, ed. New York University Press, 2000. The Bloodaxe Book of 20th Century Poetry, from Britain and Ireland. Edna Longley, ed. Bloodaxe Books, 2000. The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org). The Faber Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry. Paul Muldoon ed. Faber and Faber, 1986. The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry. Peter Fallon and Derek Mahon, ed. Penguin Books, 1990.